1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to articles of luggage and more particularly to an article of luggage of the type having wheels thereon and a handle for rolling the luggage along a supporting surface as well as a strap for securing auxiliary articles of luggage to the main article.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Luggage of the type adapted to maintain articles of clothing, business materials and the like has traditionally been transported by lifting the article of luggage with a handle fixedly secured thereto. In more recent years, however, particularly with larger pieces of luggage or those adapted to carry heavy articles, wheels have been permanently mounted in the luggage and an auxiliary handle provided to push or pull the piece of luggage on its wheels across a supporting surface. Numerous arrangements of handles have been utilized and in many cases the handles are awkwardly mounted on the exterior of the luggage in a position where it detrimentally affects the esthetics of the luggage and is also in a position wherein it is easily damaged. Some such auxiliary handles have been partially concealed within a portion of the body of the luggage in an attempt to overcome the shortcomings in prior art systems.
Such wheeled embodiments of luggage have met with great success and due to the fact that greater weights can be transported in this manner, systems have been developed for piggybacking articles of luggage so that several pieces of auxiliary luggage can be transported on a single piece of wheeled luggage. Systems for piggybacking luggage typically consist of fixed length straps or expandable straps that can be wrapped around the auxiliary pieces of luggage as well as a portion of the wheeled piece of luggage to releasably secure the pieces together. These straps, however, are typically not connected to the wheeled piece of luggage, or if they are connected to the wheeled piece of luggage, they are connected in a manner so as to distract from the aesthetics of the luggage or they are attached in a location where they are easily snagged or damaged by other articles, thereby creating an inconvenience to the user of the luggage and, accordingly, such systems have not met with great success.
It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a piece of wheeled luggage having handle means for rolling the luggage across a supporting surface and strap means for piggybacking auxiliary pieces of luggage which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.
It is more specifically an object of the present invention to provide a system for substantially concealing a tow handle and an auxiliary strap in a piece of luggage such that neither the handle nor the strap detract from the aesthetics of the bag and are prevented from being accidentally damaged.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary handle and strap for attaching auxiliary pieces of luggage wherein deployment of the auxiliary handle automatically exposes the strap for use in connecting auxiliary pieces of luggage.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an article of wheeled luggage wherein the handle for carrying the luggage can also be used in a convenient manner to roll the luggage across a supporting surface and wherein a strap is operatively associated with the handle for connecting auxiliary pieces of luggage in a piggybacked manner.